The present invention relates to a roof opening structure for a vehicle, in particular, a so-called open car, which comprises a front header extending in a vehicle width direction in front of a passenger's seat arranged in a vehicle compartment and supporting an upper side of a windshield and an openable roof extending rearward from the front header and forming an upper portion of the vehicle compartment.
In general, the so-called open car with the openable roof comprises a roll bar to protect a passenger's head when the roof is open at a vehicle rollover. This conventional open car equipped with the roll bar is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 2005-186688 or 2006-21607, for example.
The structure disclosed in these publications comprises a kick-up portion which rises upward obliquely from a rear portion of a floor panel, a rear floor which extends rearward from an upper end of the kick-up portion, and a cross member which extends in a vehicle width direction over a back face of the kick-up portion and a lower face of a front end portion of the rear floor. Further, a cross bar which has a closed cross section and extends in the vehicle width direction is provided so as to interconnect both-sides side panels forming the vehicle side via link brackets.
Moreover, behind a seatback of a driver's seat and a seatback of a passenger's seat is provided a pair of roll bars which rises upward from an upper face of the front end portion of the rear floor which corresponds to the above-described cross member. Respective middle portions of the roll bars extend upward through the cross bar and bend in a reverse-U shape, and their ends are fixed to the cross bar. Additionally, the roll bar and the both side panels are interconnected by connecting members which extend in the vehicle width direction. Thus, the support rigidity of the roll bar is ensured.
The above-described roll bars are made of a steel pipe, so that they can have a sufficient rigidity itself and supporting rigidity. Further, the roll bars extend vertically as a whole, and the upper end of the roll bars are positioned substantially at the same level as the upper end of the seat
Accordingly, since the high roll bars are arranged right behind the seat, the roof forming the upper portion of the vehicle compartment may be required to be foldable longitudinally. Thus, the roof opening structure for a vehicle to meet this requirement, like the one which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-261412, has been invented.
According to the roof opening structure for a vehicle disclosed in this publication, the roof is split into three parts, i.e., a front roof panel, a middle roof panel, and a back window. Further, a deck cover is provided so as to cover these roof members which are folded and stored in a storage compartment for providing a good appearance. Herein, the above-described deck cover is retreated rearward, and then the roof is folded and stored in the storage compartment. After the storage of the roof, the deck cover is moved forward again to its normal covering position.
According to the above-described structure disclosed in the publication, while the roof can be folded compactly longitudinally because the roof is comprised of three split members, the structure may be rather complex and the above-described deck cover may be necessary to ensure the good appearance, which may further cause the more complex structure. Thus, there are problems in that the structure would become too complex, the number of parts would become too many, the weight of the structure would become too heavy, and the costs of the structure would increase improperly.